Robert Sciarrino/The Star-LedgerIf the NHL season is canceled, player agents like Mark Gandler of Franklin Lakes won't get paid for an entire year.

We hear it every time there is a labor dispute in pro sports: Millionaire players against mega-millionaire owners.

That’s true again in the current NHL lockout, which is threatening to curtail or perhaps even cancel the 2012-13 season. Negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement are going on this weekend in New York, but both sides seem to be in no hurry to compromise.

“I always think of other people,” Devils right winger David Clarkson said of the impact of canceled games. “Think of all those people who work in the rinks, sell the popcorn or clean the rinks. Those people are never going to make that money back. Some of them have two or three kids. It’s tough.”

Padlocked hockey arenas hurt many people, and that includes some who usually receive little or no sympathy from fans — player agents. If the lockout drags on, they will feel the pinch.

“Big time. No question about it. You get paid when players get paid,” said Mark Gandler, whose agency International Sports Advisors is located in Franklin Lakes.

“At least in the past during the lockout players would get a stipend (from an NHL Players Association) fund. I think it was $5,000 or $10,000. Agents don’t get a stipend, and I don’t have any other work that I do. So it’s difficult.”

The impact is felt personally and professionally.

“This is our revenue. No business can operate without any revenue,” said Lewis Gross of Sports Professional Management in Englewood Cliffs, which represents players such as Martin St. Louis of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

“A lot of agencies bill (clients) twice a year. We bill at the midpoint of the season and we bill when the season is over. So when you go an entire season without hockey, you’re looking at a long time in between. Not many businesses could survive that in any walk of life.”

NHL players do not get paid during training camp or the preseason, so agents are not yet feeling the financial impact. The average NHL salary is $2.55 million. Agents typically get a 4 percent commission.

“I usually get paid in October. The way I work with my clients is when they get their money from escrow, I get paid for the previous season,” Gandler said. “That will last me for a number of months. I’ll get some commissions in October, so I’m going to be fine through the end of the year.

“I’m not feeling it yet, but starting in the spring I’d feel it. The real problem is, if the season is (canceled), my next paycheck will be in October of 2014.”

Gandler has represented NHL players since 1990, and Gross has been an NHL agent since ’91. They endured lockouts in 2004-05, when the entire season was lost, and in 1994-95, when the schedule was shortened to 48 games.

He cut back and tried to make the most of the 2004-05 lockout.

“Last time, I borrowed money from my family. When you start paying it back, it takes you a long time to get back on your feet to where you were,” Gandler said. “On the other hand, I had the best time of my life during the last lockout. Out of sight, out of mind. I stopped doing any work.

“I told my guys I wasn’t going to spend money during the lockout. I played soccer three times a week. I ran every day. I was in the best shape of my life. I can tell you that I was very happy. At our age (he’s 56 now), you don’t get a sabbatical like that. You don’t get to play hooky and be able to explain to your family why you’re not looking for work.”

Unlike Gandler, Gross couldn’t see the bright side of the last lockout.

“I don’t know how anyone can say it was enjoyable,” Gross said. “I have three kids. It gave me time to watch them play basketball, but it’s tough. I think we’re all nervous. We hope this gets settled. I think people are very turned off to this one because everyone is having tough times because of the economy. And the game is in such a great place right now.”

On that, all agents agree.

“To me, these are completely different negotiations than in the past, because there is really nothing to discuss other than how much money (the owners) are going to make and how much money we’re going to make,” Gandler said. “All the other issues will fall into place immediately.”

With at least part of this season in jeopardy, agents have tried to secure jobs for clients in Europe, which would bring in some commissions.

“The players want to play,” Gandler said. “The fact is, not everybody can get a job. It’s difficult explaining to players why one guy got a job and another guy doesn’t. Pretty much everybody can at least play in their hometown. We do what we can.”

Gandler client Artem Anisimov is playing for Barys Astana in Kazakhstan, and Nik Antropov is playing for Yaroslavl Lokomotiv in Russia.

NHL player agents know there will be few tears shed on their behalf during a lengthy lockout. But will every one be affected, including those in the big companies?

“No question about it,” Gandler said. “I think there are some agents for whom the NHL is — I don’t want to say a hobby, because that sounds insulting — but it’s their secondary source of income. Somebody who practices law and continues to practice law and makes his money on his legal practice and some money on hockey.

“For those like myself, where it’s the only income, it is really tough. I have no other businesses.”